Seeing is Believing
by Holly Unending
Summary: Trucy wants her Daddy to believe in magic- but no one ever said granting wishes was easy. With Trucy, Apollo, and Mr. Hat on the job, it just might be disastrous. Phoenix/Maya, seven years later.
1. Abracadabra

**A/N: **How dare I start another chapter fic when I haven't updated my others, I know. I suck. Well, just think of this as a reaaaaallly long oneshot. Three chapters at the most, I swear, and then back to Mornings! Also, this is terribly cliched and has probably been done before. I just couldn't help it! Love you all.

* * *

**-Abracadabra-**

"Do a magic trick for me, Trucy?" Phoenix leaned back in his chair and pushed his beanie down over his eyes a little, smiling.

"Of course!" She jumped up on the table and cleared her throat.

"Woaaah. Waaaargh. Hey, you almost- you did." Apollo sighed in defeat. His half-sister peered down at him and his surrogate father/boss glared.

"What's with the noises, Justice? I'm trying to watch a magic show by the best magician in all the land."

"Oh, Daddy! You're so sweet!"

"See this big brown stain all over my shirt? That's _coffee._"

"Oh. You're not a very neat eater, are you, Polly?"

"What? No! _You_ did that! _You!_ And stop shaking the table, I'm trying to write in my journal!"

Trucy ignored him, instead bouncing some more and declaring with a flourish, "It's the amazing, the fantastic, the friendly neighborhood…"

"Oh no."

"MR. HAT!" The wooden puppet burst out of nowhere, capturing Trucy's top hat, and clacked his mouth together. "_Hello, everyone! Now, hold still, close your eyes, and make a wish_!"

"I've never listened to a hat before, and I'm not starting now." Apollo scrubbed harder at the stain on his vest.

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Justice, I _will_ cut your pay."

"But I- hey, you don't pay me anything."

"_A-HEM! Comply immediately or face my wrath!_" Mr. Hat gave him a piercing look that seemed to threaten of ominous ends if he did not…or at least the end of his just-too-tempting-to-pull hairstyle. Apollo complied. He wondered what Mr. Wright was doing. Thinking, "The wrath of a hat too much for you, Justice?!" probably.

"_Now, wish…for what your heart _truly _desires…"_

"I'd really like this stain out of my shirt, please."

"_Hush! Mortal speech has no place in this realm of ethereal spirits and panties!_"

"None of _my _panties are ethereal," Apollo muttered under his breath.

Phoenix reached over and struck him across his hair-horns. "Shut up and wish."

Rudest. Spirits._ Ever._

"_Abracadabra! Allakazam! _and…TA-DAAAAA!"

The stained victim in question opened his eyes without waiting for permission from Mr. Hat, who had disappeared anyway. "W-woah! The stain is really gone?!" He ran his hands up and down the red vest without feeling any coffee at all. "That's really amazing, Trucy!"

Phoenix clapped enthusiastically. "That's my girl! You'll wow all the boys- just don't let them wow you, got that?"

"Of course, Daddy!" She bowed.

"Trucy, you've got a real gift for magic, never forget that."

"Can I have pudding now?"

"Of course!"

"Can I have pudding?" Her brother chimed in.

"Absolutely not. No pudding for mortals who can't even drink their coffee properly, that's what I always say."

"Yeah! That's what Daddy always says!"

"…Man…This sucks. I don't even get paid in pudding."

* * *

Apollo looked over at the clock and groaned. "Almost midnight? I should _really_ go to sleep, but I just need to finish my opening statements for tomorrow and then I'll…I'll…" He yawned hugely. "Aw, forget it. I'll finish in the morning." Too wiped to even drag himself over to his bed, he just switched off the desk lamp and plopped his head down on his poor penmanship. Sweet sleep.

"Polly."

Sleep.

"Paaaaaaahhhhhhllieeeeeeee."

SLEEP.

"PAAAAWWWWHLLLLIEEEYYYY."

"Why are you distorting my name so- ow!" He tried to sit up so quickly that he thwacked his head on the lamp.

"That's what you get for snapping at me!" Trucy stuck her tongue out at him and perched on the edge of his bed. "Like Buddha."

Was it just that he was sleep-deprived, or did that really not make sense? "Buddha?"

"Duh. 'What goes around comes around,' Buddha said."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not right, but Buddha aside: why are you in my room in the middle of the night? Have a nightmare or something?"

She put on a thoughtful expression and stroked an imaginary goatee. "Nope. I was just wondering what you thought Daddy wished for."

"Sorry, I still have no idea what you're saying. Are we talking about Mr. Wright now or are we still on Buddha?" Apollo grimaced, trying to rub his eyes awake.

"Daddy. The magic trick. Mr. Hat. You wished for the stain to be gone, right? What did Daddy wish for?"

"I…am honestly not a mind reader. Go back to sleep, and more importantly let me go back to sleep."

She leapfrogged aggressively over the random crap that was scattered across his floor and latched onto his neck. "No WAY, Apollo! This is important! What if Daddy feels left out because I granted your wish but couldn't grant his? What if he doesn't think I'm a good magician anymore? What if…What if Daddy stops believing in magic at all?!" Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears and, despite himself, Apollo felt a wave of pity.

"Aw, Trucy, Mr. Wright will never stop believing in you. He loves you! And besides, I said my wish out loud, how could he ever expect you to know his wish?"

"B-but that's just it, P-polly! That's what magic _is!_ It's…it's g-granting the wishes that you never tell to anyone!" The tears escaped her and started to roll down her cheeks, one by one, shining slightly in the pale light seeping in under his door from the hallway.

He hugged her awkwardly and couldn't think of anything to say. Trucy sniffled into his coffee-stain-free sweater. He thought about how much he owed her- not just for the stain thing, but for the help on all his cases, and the encouragement, and the rent. She worked really hard. He could do just this one thing for her, right? Even if it wasn't perfect, he could absolutely come up with _something_ Mr. Wright would wish for!

"Trucy, I think I know what he wished for."

She gasped and pulled away. "Really?! What what what?"

"Um, a new bicycle." She punched his shoulder. "Ouch, hey, what was that for?"

"No way is Daddy's true desire a bike, Polly! Obviously!"

Was it just him, or did teenagers get touchier and touchier every generation? He couldn't remember ever being that violent. "Okay okay, then…I meant, of course, to say that- er, he wants you and me to live with him happily ever after. So just be good and I'm sure you'll grant his wish."

Her eyes suddenly lit up with a very, very, very dangerous gleam. It was the Mr. Hat gleam, the salty noodles gleam, the gleam that made him want to crawl under his desk and rock back and forth until she went away. "Polly!! Polly, I've GOT it!! Daddy wants…what Daddy _truly_ wants…is…"

Apollo braced himself.

"A _MOMMY!_"

Bracing just didn't help, somehow.

"Oh God, Trucy, you're not really suggesting playing matchmaker for Mr. Wright, are you?"

"Not matchmaking! Mommyfinding!"

"It's the same thing! And it's insane!"

"Let's go, Polly!" She rocketed out of his chair, tears dried, and tried to contain her excitement.

"What? Not _now_, it's one in the morning."

"Exactly! Just think how hard it'd be to investigate while Daddy is asleep, we've got to do it now!"

Apollo started to chuckle. Then he realized she was serious.

Apollo started to whimper.

Trucy grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out into the dark agency, the only sound a faint, distressed, "Mr.Wrightisgoingtokillme, Mr.Wrightisgoingtokillme, Mr.Wrightisgoingtokillme…" lingering in their wake.


	2. Alakazam

**A/N: **Sorry for any and all OOCness, I'm not so great at writing Apollo and Trucy, mostly old AA characters. If you have time, I would love to hear your thoughts!

* * *

**-Alakazam-**

"SO!" Trucy's eyes gleamed. "Polly, show us the evidence!"

He didn't even question why she was referring to herself as 'us', just started pulling stuff out. He didn't even understand what was so important about _this_ stuff in particular; he'd just accepted whatever Trucy chucked at him and put it in a grocery bag. He didn't even really remember what she _had _chucked at him, just that it went in the bag with everything else and sometimes made dangerous fragile-sounding noises. Wearily, he presented the first piece of "evidence." A nine-looking thing. Whatever it was, Mr. Wright had been sleeping with it under his pillow and he was sure going to be pissed when he realized it was gone.

"Ah HAAAA." Trucy chuckled evilly. "I have NO idea what this is!"

"Then please stop laughing. You're scaring me."

"A nine? A six? A tuna sandwich?!"

"Does that _look _like a sandwich to you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Polly, it's clearly some kind of pendant!"

Apollo resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall and instead gritted his teeth and brought out the next piece of evidence. "Not to question your investigation systems, but is there a reason we needed a statue of The Thinker?"

"It's crucial!"

"It's _heavy._"

"Next!" _So you have no idea what this is, either, huh?_

Soon a series of seemingly unrelated objects was before them:

A picture of an unfamiliar woman with an unfamiliar man. The man was smirking and had several empty coffee cups beside him.

The green nine-six-tuna-sandwich thing.

A card with a pink shell on it and a spiky-haired man drawn over it in Sharpie. Trucy told him that was how "Daddy used to look, back when he was a lawyer!" Apollo had his doubts. No one's hair was _that_ ridiculous.

The Thinker, which apparently was not a statue but a clock, as Apollo cleverly deduced when he dropped it on its head and it shouted the time at him. When he finally stopped crying he took its batteries out.

The Thinker's batteries, courtesy of Apollo.

Charley.

A bottle of water, because Charley was looking a little thirsty. The bottle of water had been in the bag, Charley obviously had not but at Trucy's insistence he accompanied them back to Apollo's room anyway.

The fingerprinting powder Ema had loaned to them that Mr. Wright had loaned to her that apparently she had loaned to him seven years ago.

Two sketchbook papers with a lot of unfamiliar-looking people on them.

A bullet in a small plastic bag.

A drawing of…something, flying over something, that looked something like it was on fire. Or something. Whoever drew it had a great imagination and no artistic skills whatsoever, absolutely.

And lastly, a huge stack of Steel Samurai DVDS and a pile of letters, all from the same person, someone called…

"Maya?" Trucy mused. "I think that Daddy's mentioned her before."

"Not to me. Can I go back to sleep now?" He knew she was going to ignore him. Why he actually needed permission from a sister more than 5 years his junior, he still hadn't figured out, but it seemed dangerous to disobey her. Her and her "friendly" neighborhood hat. "C'mon, Trucy, it's four am! And I have a trial tomorrow!"

She ignored him, flipping one of the letters over instead. "Yay, an address! Polly, it's time for a little field trip!"

Reluctantly he leaned over for a peek. "Kurain Village? That can't be around here, I've never even heard of it."

She ignored him again. "I'll go get my jacket, you put all that evidence back in the bag, kay Polly? It might come in handy!"

"Okay." He made a sort of wobbly half-hearted effort at sweeping the stuff off of his desk and into the bag and then threw himself down on his bed. Sleep engulfed him immediately, and with it really strange dreams.

_"Mr. Eldoon! Mr. Eldoon! I found an amazing new ingredient for you!"_

_"What's that, Trucy-doll? A tuna sandwich? Delicious!"_

_"Try it, Polly! Salt, tuna, noodles, and bread! What could be better?"_

_"No, Trucy, don't eat it! That's not tuna, it's a magatama! Trucy, NOOOOOO!"_

Someone yanked his hair rudely.

"Owww, what was that for?!" He sat up slowly, rubbing at his forehead with one hand and propping himself up with the other. "I just wanted to sleep for a few minutes without your insane plans giving me nightmares, is that too much to…ask…"

"…"

"Trucy, why am I at a train station?"

She giggled and yanked his hair again from her vantage point atop their evidence bag. "Because we're going to Kurain, obviously!"

"Let me rephrase that. How the heck did I get to a train station?"

"A nice old man passing by helped me carry you here, but don't worry about that, the train'll be here soon," she tried to encourage him.

"An old man passing by at four in the morning? Is that why I smell like cigars?"

The train station was pretty much deserted, no surprise since the clock on the wall read 4:30 and they weren't exactly headed for a popular destination. It was a cloudy, windless day without even the sound of trees shifting, the first lightening of the sky throwing gray shadows down over them and onto the tracks where a few birds had settled. It was so peaceful Apollo could almost fall asleep again.

Trucy yanked his hair.

"Graah! If you don't stop that, I'm going to have a bald spot before I'm 25!"

"Ha ha. People would think you were a crotchety old man, what with that and your cigar smell!"

"Yuck. Can't you fix that with some magic or something?"

Her eyes lit up right away at that. "Of course! Prepaaaaare for the AMAZING…"

"Can't you fix that with some magic _without _Mr. Hat?!"

"Quiet, you're hurting his feelings. The AMAZING Mr. Hat!" The wooden puppet sprang out from her cloak, startling the birds nearby and sending them up into the pre-dawn sky. Apollo wished vaguely that he could fly away too. Mr. Hat pulled him out of his thoughts with a clacking, "_Now, close your eyes and wish for what your heart _truly _desires…"_

He closed his eyes reluctantly. "This smell is your fault anyway, you know. You're the one who dragged me out here in the first place."

"_Abracadabra! Alakazam! TA-DA!_ Open your eyes!"

He sniffed his sleeve. "Still smells weird, sorry."

She giggled. "No, that's just because the nice old man is still sitting right next to us!"

Sure enough, there was a random old man grinning toothlessly at them. _How the heck did he even manage to carry me?_

Before he had a chance to give Trucy yet another lecture about Stranger Danger (didn't they teach that kind of thing at school anymore?!), the train pulled into the station, doors wheezing open. "Finally. Hey, where are our tickets?"

"We don't need tickets! No one ever uses tickets in the movies!"

_That's probably because they're samurai. Man, Trucy seriously needs a role model. And a ticket._

They chose a pair of seats as far away from the "nice old man" as Apollo could find and settled in. Unfortunately, soon they were accosted by the orange-coated conductor, who was not, it seemed, a morning person.

"Dude, where's your ticket? You and the pretty lady- well, she doesn't need a ticket, she can ride for free. But you, you're suspicious! I'm telling you, you better gimme a ticket in 30 seconds or I'll have you arrested! Yeah! Don't mess with the Butz!"

Trucy giggled. Apollo stared back into the enraged face, mentally adding a tick mark to his tally of Times I've Been Scarred While Participating in Trucy's Bad Plans. Somehow the only thing his mouth could find to say was, "Butts?"

"Ticket, dude! Or else!!" He punched the air menacingly a few times with his ticket-puncher.

First the hapless attorney turned to his seat partner, half-expecting Mr. Hat to barf out a ticket or something, but no such luck. If Mr. Hat barf could ever be called luck. "Oh, a ticket, right! J-just a minute!" He ripped open the evidence bag and started digging frantically. _This guy probably wouldn't know a ticket if it gave him a papercut in his eye, so I just need a small piece of paper!_ _C'mon, c'mon, small piece of paper…_ His fingers closed around one and he yanked it out. "Here!"

The conductor examined it with what was probably supposed to be a shrewd expression. "Okay, that's…hey, that's…that's…"

"A ticket, yep!" Apollo tried to wave it back and forth a little so it would be harder to focus on, but the crazy guy suddenly ripped it right of his hands with a cry of-

"THAT'S MY PRICELESS ARTWORK!!"

The two adventurers stared. Whatever they had been expecting, it definitely wasn't that. Suddenly they were engulfed in a huge bear hug. "Oh man, oh man, this is amazing! I'll just have to give this to my precious Iris!"

"Y-you can't!" Apollo managed to squeak out. "That's my picture. I mean ticket." It was a picture after all, that something-burning-something-flying-something thing.

The guy pulled away to rifle frantically through his pockets. "I'll give you anything, man, _anything!_ This is a precious memory to me, when Nick and I were in that trial and I was the decisive witness and Iris was there and Maya and…I'll give you ten dollars and twenty- no, thirty!- cents and two pieces of gum and a dog bone and a free train ride whenever you want!" His puppy dog eyes gleamed hopefully at them.

"Deal!" Trucy snatched up the treasure trove.

"Wait…Maya? Did you say Maya?"

The conductor was busy fawning over his "priceless artwork", but his head snapped up at that name. "Maya, yeah, Maya Fey! Oh, you're probably going to see her since you're on this train, right? A real cutie. But not as cute as my Iris, and hey! You'd better not be going to see Iris!!" He glared aggressively.

_Is this guy bipolar or something?! _"No no, we're visiting Maya. I'm Apollo, and this is Trucy, Phoenix's Wright's daughter?" Guy had to have heard of Phoenix Wright, right?

"N-Nick? Nick got married? Nick had a kid? Tell me tell me tell me! I'm Larry, Larry Butz, his best friend, but you must know that, he must talk about me all the time right? I talk about him all the time, he's my best friend, who is he married to? Wait, is it Iris? It better not be my precious Iris!!"

Trucy looked sidelong at Apollo. "Now that he brings it up, I think Daddy does mention him sometimes. 'When something smells, it's usually the Butz!'"

Apollo groaned. "This is going to be the longest train ride ever, isn't it?"


	3. Tada

**A/N: **Yay, long cheesy last chappie, hope you enjoyed! I wrote this listening to "Love Story" by Savannah Outen. It might seem incomplete, but I kind of like it. I guess could write an epilogue if I need to. Anyway, thanks to all my beautiful reviewers:

**Someone not important**: You're important to me! –cheesy- Thanks so much for coming along for the ride!

**princessphilomena: **Aw, thanks! Man…I have such trouble writing Apollo and Trucy. They always end up like Phoenix and Maya. xD

**Crystal Snowflakes: **I'm so glad they managed to entertain you. Like I said, I have trouble with those two.

**SharadaGirl: **How did he know it was a magatama in his dream…? –shifty eyes- He's, um, psychic. –shot- Good catch, thanks! I tried to explain it a bit in this chapter! Edgey isn't in here, but he is still loved!

* * *

**-TA-DA-**

Larry Butz stuck his whole arm, head, and one of his legs out the train window to wave a teary goodbye to Apollo and Trucy as they disembarked at Kurain Station.

"BYEEEEEEE! THANKS FOR THE ARTWOOOORK, DUDES! STAY AWAY FROM MY IRIIIIS!"

Trucy and Mr. Hat waved enthusiastically back. Apollo sneezed.

"Too bad he didn't have a picture of Maya for us, right Polly?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, too bad. What was it he said again?"

"'Just look for a cute chick wearing a green nine thingy!'" She repeated dutifully.

…_Why do I have doubts about following this guy's advice…? "_Oh, by the way, I remembered the name of that thing!"

"What thing?"

"That nine-looking thing!"

"What nine-looking thing?"

"Trucy…c'mon, you know! It's green and shaped like a nine!"

"Polly, you're a lawyer, you should have better powers of description than that! _Lots_ of things are green and shaped like a nine!"

_Like what?! _"That thing Mr. Wright had under his pillow!"

"The Thinker?"

He slapped his forehead. "Is the Thinker green? Is it shaped like a nine? And how the heck would it fit under anyone's pillow?! _Trucy!_"

"Oh, you mean the magatama!"

He stared at her in disbelief. "…You…knew the name all along."

"Of course, silly. Mr. Hat ate that."

"Then why didn't you- Mr. Hat _ate _it?!"

Clack clack clack. "_Thank you for the delicious snack, Ms. Trucy the Magnificent!"_

"My pleasure, Mr. Hat the Marvelous!"

Apollo rolled his eyes. _Nothing about that hat is marvelous. And you're not exactly magnificent yourself._ "Can he please spit it back out?"

"Um, excuse me." The two stopped arguing and turned to look at the girl who had just spoken. She was about Trucy's age, with brown hair pulled up into a pretzel-y thing, chewing uncertainly on one of her fingers. "U-um, welcome to K-kurain!"

"Hi!" Trucy collapsed Mr. Hat and grabbed one of her hands, shaking it happily. "I'm Trucy! Are you Maya? Will you be my mommy? Don't be so shy! Do you live here?"

The poor girl stuttered out, "I-I-I-I'm Pearl…um…Mystic Maya is…"

Apollo pulled Trucy away. "Hey, just think about it. If this girl was Mr. Wright's assistant seven years ago she would've been really little. You can't just go around asking random people to be your mother!"

"But she's cute and she has a magatama!"

"She just said her name is Pearl! _Pearl!_ Does that sound like Maya to you?!"

"D-did you just say Mr. Wright?" Her eyes lit up and she stopped shaking.

"Yeah! Do you know my daddy?"

"D-daddy?! Mr. Nick, how could you? What about Mystic Maya?!" She slapped Apollo hard in a sudden fit of childlike rage.

"Woaaaah! I didn't do anything!!"

* * *

"Oh, you're adopted? I-I'm so embarrassed…"

Trucy laughed easily. "Don't worry about it! I just can't believe that you knew my daddy so long ago!"

"_I'm_ the one she slapped," Apollo grumbled. But it was hard to stay mad at Pearl. "Okay, so we're looking for someone called Maya. Do you know her?"

"Of course I know Mystic Maya! Is Mr. Nick finally proposing? And he sent two messengers, how romantic!" She blushed with joy.

"No, no, we came on our own. He doesn't know we're here."

"We came to ask her to be my mommy!"

This time Pearl was the one to clasp Trucy's hands. "We're going to be great friends!"

"Absolutely!"

_Oh no. Just what I need, another mommyfinding enthusiast._

Chattering excitedly, the two set off through the village with Apollo following wearily behind. He slowly became aware of eyes watching him from the nearest house. _It's probably because I'm dressed so modernly, everyone here looks like they dropped straight out of feudal Japan. _But after a while he started to get suspicious, and then paranoid. _Why aren't they looking at Trucy too? She's dressed even weirder than me!!_

"Hey, Pearl, why is everyone staring at me?"

"Because with your red suit and bag of evidence, you look like Santa!" Trucy guessed.

Pearl was kind enough to give him a real answer, "It's because this is almost completely a village of women. Our psychic powers are passed down through the female side, so men are usually uncomfortable living here."

_I'm pretty uncomfortable right now, that's for sure._

"I still think it's because you look like Santa Claus!" She tried to imitate his walk, "'Ho ho hobjection! I'm Apollo Claus!'"

"Stop that."

At last they arrived at the largest structure, overlooking the entire village, and Pearl knocked on the door. "Mystic Maya, visitors!"

"Sorry, but could you ask them to come back later?"

"It's Mr. Wright's adopted daughter and son, Mystic Maya!" _Wait, since when did Mr. Wright become _my _daddy?!_

The door rattled open to reveal a woman wearing acolyte's clothing with long, beautiful black hair and wide dark eyes. She was wearing a magatama, and Apollo supposed that seven years ago she could've been called _cute,_ but now she was more…sophisticated, he would say. Out of nowhere she launched herself at them with an, "OMIGOOOOD!" and engulfed them both in a huge hug. "I'm soooo happy to see you! I can't believe it! How are you, Trucy?! I'm Maya, I used to be his assistant! Nick told me all about you! Have you been watching the Steel Samurai? And you must be Apollo, your hair is crazy! Can I see your badge?!"

_Okay, maybe sophisticated wasn't _quite_ the right word, _Apollo corrected himself, struggling to breathe.

Finally Maya calmed down enough to remember her manners and invite them all in to have tea with her.

"But aren't you busy?" Trucy asked worriedly. "We don't want to intrude." _No, we just came to kidnap you and force to marry a hobo and take care of a young girl and a defense attorney. Wouldn't want to_ intrude.

Maya beamed. "Oh, you're so polite! I always knew Nick would make a great daddy!"

"You've known Mr. Wright for quite a while, haven't you?"

"Of course!"

"And he...changed, didn't he?"

"Yes," she admitted unhappily, the atmosphere in the room taking a more somber turn. "When he lost his badge, he changed. After that he stopped laughing, stopped visiting, stopped calling. Really, he just…stopped." She sniffled a little despite herself. "I thought I would be the last person he wanted to see, a reminder of everything he used to have, so I stayed away. I still wrote. A lot."

"I know."

"But I didn't ever once tell him _my _secret, either."

"Your secret?"

"It would have been the hardest thing to say to him," she whispered. "It doesn't really make sense, but it's true."

Apollo almost didn't ask. But he had to, didn't he? Wasn't that the duty of a lawyer? Or was it the duty of a magician? "What would be the hardest thing to say?"

"I was there."

Apollo and Trucy looked at each other in confusion. "You were 'there'? What do you mean by that?"

"The day he lost his badge, I was there. He…he thought I was in Kurain Village, and I really was supposed to be because it was the day of my inauguration ceremony as Master, but I'd only missed one of Nick's trials before if I was kidnapped or held hostage or something like that and I didn't want to leave him alone. He gets in all kinds of trouble without me, you know," she chuckled. "Anyway, I got there late because the trains don't run from Kurain all that often. It wouldn't have been polite to disturb the court by running down to the defense bench, so I stayed up in the spectator stands, and that was where I saw it."

"Why didn't you go to him afterward?" Apollo's fists clenched- he hadn't known Phoenix at that time, but the pain must have been pretty bad for him to have changed as drastically as Trucy said he had. "Why didn't you let him know you were there, try to comfort him? Wasn't he your best friend? Didn't you say there's no one you care about more?"

She sat with her head bowed and a little smile on her face. "From what you tell me, I think me and Nick…we've both learned the same thing, these last seven years. I can't speak for Nick but I'm not the best student. Maybe I should have learned something else. Maybe I thought wouldn't he give up on me so easily. Maybe he thought I wouldn't give up on him. It doesn't matter. In the end, we both learned the same thing." She lifted her chin proudly, her long ebony hair glossy in the sunlight, her eyes shining, her mouth curved upward. "We both learned how to cover a heart, no matter how broken, with a smile."

"Maybe…" Apollo thought for a minute about Mr. Wright's signature smirk. It wasn't always hiding something sad. When he laughed, he could look like the happiest person in the world. But there were times- especially when he had to watch a case unfold as he stood by silently, especially when the mail came and it was only bills, especially when he saw a hapless young defense attorney and his happy young assistant- when that little smile was definitely, definitely a mask. "Maybe it's time for you to learn something new." Trucy nodded emphatically for Apollo to continue, Pearl put down her tea, Maya sat up a little in her seat. "Maybe it's time for you to learn how to believe in magic again."

She tilted her head like she was trying to look at him from a different angle, and then she smiled. "Maybe it is."

* * *

"Pearly," she declared, placing her hands firmly on the younger girl's shoulders and giving her a fierce look in the dim light of the train station, "I hereby dub you…Master of Kurain!"

"Mystic Maya, I couldn't!! And you couldn't leave!! And what about-"

"Forget all that stuff, Pearly. I'm going to see Nick, and that's final!"

Pearl smiled. Clearly that was the answer she had been looking for. "Then I gladly accept! Have fun, Mystic Maya."

"Of course."

A lilting song began playing sweetly. _They even have their own background music?!_

"Polly, your phone!"

"Oh. I knew that. Hello, this is Apollo."

"I know that, Justice. I wouldn't have called this number if I didn't have to."

"Mr. Wright? Why are you calling me? If you're mad, it was Trucy's fault!"

"Nice, Justice, lying to your daddy." _You aren't my daddy, haven't we established that?! _"I'm calling because you had a trial today."

"No I- OH CRAP." Apollo smacked himself in the forehead.

"Ha ha, I could hear that over the phone. Don't abust yourself too much, I took care of it."

"You...took care of it? Wait a minute, you don't have a badge," He protested.

"Obviously not. I do have connections though. Miss your next one and you are puddingless for life."

"Thanks so much, Mr...Hello? Hello?" Apollo sighed. "Does he always act this much like a mob boss?"

The two girls hugged one last time as the train heaved itself into the station, and Trucy and Pearl exchanged phone numbers. Apollo hefted the evidence bag over his shoulder and found a seat in the corner away from the strange old man who was still riding the train. Trucy and Maya joined him. "Man, this bag is heavy. And hey, a ton of this stuff ended up being useless…" He started pulling stuff out. "Like the Thinker."

Maya gasped. "That's the Thinker!"

"Yeah, I know."

"No, that's the Thinker that…the Thinker that killed my sister…" She teared up a little. "Larry made it."

"Larry killed your sister?!"

"No, no," she laughed, putting its batteries back in.

"I think it's 5:45," The clock gurgled.

"It still works! There's quite a story behind this clock. When we get to your house, maybe Nick will help me tell it. So, got any other murder weapons in there?"

"Uh, no, but here's a photo of…um, someone and someone else."

"My sister and Diego! Aw, this is so sweet."

Apollo pulled out the next piece and looked at it carefully: the card with a pink shell on it and Mr. Wright drawn over it. The handwriting looked familiar. Then he realized that it matched the letters, and he started to wonder. "Ms. Fey."

"Hey, you make me sound so old! Just call me Maya!"

"You…love Mr. Wright, don't you?"

Her eyes widened in shock, then she dropped the photograph and turned to look out of the train window. "Well, of course I love him. I love Pearly too, and Charley, and my Sis."

"No, you _love_ him."

She crossed her arms. "O-oh really? Where's your proof?"

"Proof? I bet everything in this bag is proof! Take this card for example." He handed it to her.

"Oh my god, that card…I drew this when I was being held hostage by an assassin."

"Why would you choose to draw Mr. Wright, I wonder?" Apollo pretended to think about it.

"He's my best friend! Of course I would draw him."

"Then how about this?" He presented her with the bullet in the plastic bag. _Not sure how that's going to help, but with any luck she'll fill in the gaps…_

"That's the bullet that Nick used to prove he needed me to help him and convince me to come back after I finished training!"

He gulped. "Mr. Wright shot at you?!"

"Ha ha, don't be silly. It was evidence and…another story for later. But it hardly proves anything."

"It proves how he feels about you, that he would keep an old bullet around all this time. But I've got something better anyway." He set the magatama (which Mr. Hat had apparently spit back into the bag) between them on the seat.

"My magatama! I gave that to him ages ago!"

"Isn't it unusual that he would still have _that _around too? It's not exactly a common household item!" he pointed out.

"N-no, he probably just keeps it in an old drawer because he can't bear to throw it out. He depended on that magatama a whole lot, you know."

"Oh really? An old drawer?" Apollo pulled out the fingerprinting powder in a flash of inspiration and dusted the jewel all over. "Just look at all those prints! Nothing sitting in a drawer gets that much use!"

Maya blushed, but picked up the magatama to dust it off.

"That's two strikes, then. How about…this?" He pulled out the sketch with a lot of unfamiliar people on it.

"It's that picture Larry drew! Surprisingly, he got quite good after a while. I wonder what he's up to now."

_I wouldn't waste too much time thinking about it if I were you. _

She sat back in her seat. "Well, that doesn't count anyway! It's a picture of everyone, just what is that supposed to mean?"

Apollo was stumped. "Hey, Trucy, what _is _that supposed to mean?"

She giggled. "Well, that's easy, just look at it!"

All three of them looked at the picture. "Sorry, no sudden revelations."

Trucy's small finger pointed to two lines on either side of Mr. Wright and Maya's heads: creases. "He folded it over so you two fit into a picture frame- just you two. _That _is what it's supposed to mean."

Maya blushed. Then she just couldn't help it, she started laughing. "You guys are so _dedicated_, you really remind me of him. How did you even find me?"

Apollo opened his mouth to tell her all about the coffee stain, the investigation, the evidence, Larry, Pearl, the picture, the old man, magatamas, Charley, letters, and mommyfinding, but Trucy beat him to it.

She put one finger on her lips in a secretive way and said mysteriously, "Magic!"

Maya laughed and put the magatama around her neck.

* * *

"Are you excited?" Trucy's eyes glittered as she squeezed Maya's hand. They were all crowded into the room with the foldout couch, laying out their battle plans. Mr. Wright was in the living room waiting for Trucy's magic show to begin.

"Yeah. Yeah! I mean, I know things can't be just like before, but it doesn't matter. Even if we don't have a crime scene to investigate, I'm me and Nick is Nick. I just want to eat burgers with him, go to the circus, pick out a stepladder, shop for Christmas presents, ride to Kurian..."

"We're not exactly rich," Apollo muttered. "Might not have enough for all that stuff."

"That's part of his charm!" She winked. "He's so generous!"

"I think it's more that he's hopeless with money, but yeah."

"Then we'll clean the toilet, go boating on Gourd Lake, laugh about the good old days, watch Steel Samurai reruns, play with Trucy, help you with your trials…"

"Give cryptic advice, you mean."

She laughed in delight. "Nick? _Cryptic? _No way. Nick could never fool me, not from the very first time he tried to lie to me!"

_You want to marry a liar?!_

"He was trying to keep my feelings from being hurt, trying to keep me from feeling alone when everyone had abandoned me. Told me the one person I'd thought I could depend on was just busy, when really he had turned me away. And then…he said I could depend on him. Always. Oh, what am I rambling on about now?!" She slapped her hands against her face to pull herself out of her sentimental mood, putting on her game face. "Okay! I'm ready!"

Trucy squealed. "Ohhhh, Polly, I can hardly wait!"

A knock came on the door. "Trucy? You okay in there? Justice isn't bullying you, is he?"

Maya's eyes went wide at his voice and she mouthed, "He sounds exactly the same," to herself in satisfaction.

"Coming, Daddy!!" Trucy swept out of the room. Apollo and Maya could hear her fading away as she ran down the hall, pulling him after her. "Ready for some real magic?"

"Bring it, Trucy!"

"He's so overprotective," Maya giggled. "I know you showed me a picture of him, but I really want to see him for myself, Nick after seven years! A proud papa, who would've thought!"

Apollo looked at her and all her nervous excitement and thought, _This is magic._

"Abracadabra!" came the shout.

"That's the cue, that's the cue," he whispered, motioning for her to follow him down the hallway. They padded to the living room quickly together. As Maya slipped inside, Trucy looked over her shoulder from where she was holding up a curtain and a disturbing wooden puppet to smile at her.

"Alakazam!"

Maya snuck a look at the young girl, then peeked around the edge of the curtain. She couldn't help it. She was Maya, after all. And when she saw him sitting there with his eyes closed and his hands folded and his slight smile, looking again for all the world like he was waiting for a verdict, so completely Nick, an absolutely, helplessly real smile spread across her face and she believed.

"TA-DAAA!"

Trucy took a deep, happy breath and pulled the curtain away.

_"…Open your eyes."_


	4. Encore

**A/N: **I edited the previous chapter a bit to tie up some loose ends. Now!! For much-needed thanks!!

**princessphilomena:** Thank you soooo much for your wonderful review! You made me so happy happy happy!

**SharadaGirl:** I wonder if those three could increase the Wright Anything Agency's business?

"Hi, I ship x/x and I need you to prove they're in love!!"

"No no, we have a lawyer, a magician, a piano player, and a spirit medium. No one here is a…whatever occupation you would have to be to prove someone's in love."

"But your sign says ANYTHING!"

_Dangerous ground…_

**lazyguy90:** Ah, thank you so much! Ha ha, I wondered if the "presenting evidence" bit was overboard but I kind of liked it.

**someone not important:** G-golden comedy…? –faint- Well thank you! Ah! If you do find the time to draw it, I would love to see it!!

**icer01:** Your wish is my command.-bows extravagantly- Thanks for the review!

**Chase-Chiharu: **Awww, I'm glad this made you feel all warm inside!! S-such high praise…

Ah, before I forget- I hope the dialogue at the end isn't too confusing!! I didn't want to break it up with too much description, but please tell me if you can't understand it.

Suggested listening: "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

* * *

**-Encore-  
**

He didn't have a whole lot of distance to cover, but running was still too slow for him.

She would have been crushed in his embrace if she hadn't hugged him back so hard. She giggled. He laughed.

Mr. Hat had been discarded to one side- Apollo knew this because he had tried to sneak into the room without making any noise, so of course he stubbed his toe on an empty crate, knocked over the umbrella stand, and somehow managed to walk into the door before opening it. Then he tripped over Mr. Hat.

Fortunately no one paid him the slightest attention.

Mr. Wright started to say about eleven different things before he finally gave up and just grinned like an idiot. An _idiot._ It was like that sad little smile, the one that shielded everything else, had bloomed completely into life, and over it-

Tears.

Maya mirrored him instinctively, sniffling and sobbing, wiping at her eyes over a grin that reflected off of every shining drop. He moved frantically, like he wanted to wipe all her sadness away, but Apollo thought neither of them could quite figure out if they were happy or sad anyway. Their eyes were busy telling the story of all the years they'd been apart, been alone, and their smiles were splitting open time just a little, just enough to see that there _was _a happy future, and they were looking forward to it. Bittersweet regret, tear-streaked joy, they just…_were_.

Trucy flailed blindly, hitting Apollo with a laugh of, "Polly, stop crying!"

"I-I'm not- hey, y-you're crying too!"

Mr. Wright closed his eyes, his chin resting on Maya's hair, rocking her back and forth a little. She gripped the back of his sweater hard enough to wrinkle it permanently. He whispered something to her and she giggled tearfully.

How could he not have noticed?

How could it be, that he'd lived in the Wright Anything Agency for almost a year, and still, he hadn't noticed? That smile…for some reason, he hadn't considered Mr. Wright could have ever had a different smile. And now he was seeing it. A real, true grin lighting up his face.

Apollo felt awkward staring at them, so he turned to Trucy. "S-so, are you happy? Do you think you did it? Granted his wish, I m-mean?"

"He's back," Trucy said disbelievingly.

"…What?"

"My daddy, he's back! He's back!" She laughed out loud so suddenly Apollo jumped before she ran to him and grabbed his arm. Phoenix started, but Maya welcomed her into their hug without any hesitation.

_So, the happy family, huh? Yeah, they look good together. I guess. Man, just imagining those three under the same roof…if insanity is contagious, someone impose a quarantine quick…_

"Polly!"

"Huh? H-hey, you don't have to yell, I'm right here!"

The younger girl beamed and ignored him. "Join the sandwich, Polly!"

"Are we talking about the magatama again?"

Mr. Wright turned his head enough to give Apollo a glare, but somehow it dissolved as quickly as it had appeared. Everything about him had dissolved. "Don't be smart, Apollo. C'mon."

"Yeah, Polly!"

"C'mere, Apollo!"

It felt kind of weird, a spontaneous sandwich hug, especially a hug with four people. _What is this, teletubbies? Hm, Mr. Wright could be Tinky-Winky, Maya would be Lala, oh, Trucy would so be Dipsy, and I would be…Po…Man. Wait, how do I even know the names of the teletubbies, that's-_

"Apollo, a hug usually entails more than just standing _near_ the other people."

"Wha- oh."

Yeah, it felt kind of weird.

But right.

_And isn't that what this place is all about? _He chuckled. _It's sure magical, it's weird, and it is absolutely _Wright.

"Hey, why is everybody groaning?"

"You said that out loud, Justice."

"Oh."

"Trust me, it's been done before," Maya laughed. "Even Mia used to love to do that, didn't she?"

"Man, was she ever terrible with names. Anyway, um- do you want to go out for burgers tonight or something? With everyone, I mean. Like a reunion."

_Um. Mr. Wright said UM. He really _does_ love her._

"Oh my gosh, we totally should! Do you still have old Mr. Frilly Prosecutor and Ms. Whip Prosecutor's numbers?"

"Hm. They're around here somewhere. Check Trucy's panties."

Trucy willingly produced her magic panties and Maya checked inside them immediately, without any hesitation or questioning looks a sane person might have offered.  
"Yeah, you definitely belong here," Apollo muttered, unable to contain an amused smile.

"Found the numbers!"

"Good work, Trucy. I'll go make the calls. Want to join me, Maya?"

"Yeah, I just want to talk to Apollo for a second."

Mr. Wright fixed me with his fiercest expression. "Justice. No monkey business."

"What?! Why do you always suspect me of something?"

Trucy followed her daddy out of the room, chattering excitedly about what sounded like the (premature) prospect of a wedding.

"Thanks."

Apollo realized Maya was talking to him and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Aw, it was Trucy's idea."

"It doesn't matter. Just, thank you, thank you, _thank you so much!_" She squeezed him in a huge hug again.

_Urk. Did Mr. Wright used to be a really huggy person or something?!_

Something that had been nagging at him- the way Mr. Wright didn't seem to have missed any of the things they'd taken, the way he hadn't called Apollo and demanded to know where his daughter was, the way he'd easily agreed to find someone to cover Apollo's trial-

"Do you think he knew all along?"

Maya grinned cheekily at him and tugged on his spikes. "Trade secret!"

"Ow! Wait, what? Your secret or his? Your _trade_ or his? Oh man, you're gonna be even vaguer than him, aren't you?"

Mr. Wright poked his head into the doorway long enough to say, "Also a trade secret!" before returning to his phone conversation.

Maya laughed and went to join him.

"…I have a feeling it's gonna be like this a lot around here now," Apollo mused. Which maybe wasn't a bad thing.

* * *

Apollo shuffled along through the leaves in front of Phoenix and Maya, with Trucy more or less by his side- the moment she saw anything remotely interesting off of the path she had to go investigate. He watched her clamber on top of a free-standing park drinking fountain like she was king of the public water system and thought, _What did she mean, "He's back"? _She must have meant Mr. Wright, but was he really different?

Were his eyes brighter?

Were his cheeks pinker?

Was his hair spikier?

Was his smile realer?

"Hey, Justice, go find me a leaf without any yellow on it."

"Oh, ha ha. Were his jokes always this lame, Ms. Fey?"

"Absolutely! And didn't I tell you to call me Maya?"

"I'm serious, Justice. I need that within the next ten minutes."

"What? No!"

"Do you want to disappoint your client? He might not buy any pudding for you next time he goes to the store…"

"Fine, fine!!"

Or maybe…

_…he hadn't changed at all._

That was what Apollo thought as Trucy grabbed his hand and dragged him off through the trees. Maybe he was exactly the same, just with a little chip in his mask. And a chisel and hammer ahead of him. Maybe he just looked at things a little differently, now that he believed in magic.

"What about this one, Polly?"

"Uh, the whole thing is yellow. Try again."

"Oh!! This one!"

"That might actually work- Wait, that's dog poop!! Hey, don't pick it up!! Woah, stay away from me!"

"Mr. Hat has a marvelous present for you, Polly. _CLACK CLACK. Close your eyes for a fabulous gift!_"

"I don't want any gift!"

"Abracadabra, alakazam, TADA! Open your eyes!"

"Aaargh! It stinks!!"

"Justice, where's my leaf?"

"Woah, he smells _funky!_"

"I'm so sorry the happy couple's sensitive noses are offended."

"That reminds me, can we get some burgers again on the way home?"

"Of course, Maya. Except Justice. He would scare small children."

"Trucy did this. _Trucy._ And I'm not even going to ask why this reminded you of food… Hey, wait! Don't leave me here!!"

…

"Trucy, can't you use magic to get this out of my shirt?"

Phoenix laughed, and it was contagious.


End file.
